Minocqua town board

The Minocqua Town Board and town clerk Tuesday picked Minocqua businessman Bill Stengl to fill the supervisor post left vacant when Bryan Jennings died Sept. 8 from injuries suffered when he was struck by lightning.

Minocqua supervisors applied the parking brake at their last meeting when they saw the price tag to remove two dozen trees along Dr. Pink Drive in advance of a proposed road project.

Director of Public Works Mark Pertile said the trees are on the road edge and snowplows have hit them over the years. Pitlik & Wick of Eagle River bid $140,000 to repave about a half mile of Dr. Pink Drive. But the $22,000 to have a tree service cut the trees and remove and grind the stumps drew opposition from supervisors.

A bump in the 2016 budget, few attendees and even fewer questions sums up Minocqua’s annual budget meeting last night.

Department heads and town officials outnumbered the half dozen audience members. But all voted to approve the budget which calls for a general levy of $3,.8 million, an increase of $99,000 over last year’s levy. The 2016 budget totals $5.7 million, an increase of about $476,000 from the 2015 budget..

A public hearing is set for Thursday evening(9/17) in Minocqua on a proposal to build a water bottling plant. That hearing will take place even though a Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel story said the main water source for he plant might violate an agreement between the U.S. and Canada.

There will be more fun activities to do in Minocqua next year if the town board approves plans by the owners of Northwoods Zip Line to expand its recreation offerings.

The Planning Commission got its first peek at those plans on Tuesday, but tabled a recommendation until members tour the facility to see the proposed layout first-hand.

Owner Josh Russart wants to construct a new zip line course on property he leases from the town along Highway 51 South. He says their new three zip line course will better accommodate large tour groups.

For nearly two decades, Minocqua road crews have been plowing snow and patching potholes on a quarter mile of private easement road off Bolger Lake Road. That’s against stated town board policy. But residents who benefit from that oversight want it to continue.

It was suppose to have stopped in 1998 by town board action. But according to residents, an unofficial “gentlemen’s agreement” allowed those services to continue at taxpayers’ expense.

Minocqua town supervisors are agreeable to a Minocqua police dog program but supporters need to come up with $81,000 before final board approval.

Last night’s board action gives the department a green light for community fundraising. It will cost roughly $20,500 to buy the dog and to train the K-9 team. The remainder of the $81,000 is for a police vehicle. Supporters say they have about $30,000 in hand already and promise it won’t cost taxpayers anything.

It’s been years since the Minocqua Police Department had a K9 team. That could change if the town board agrees to a request by its officers for a police dog.

Police Chief David Jaeger and his officers made the pitch Tuesday. Although officers said there would be no cost to the taxpayers, supervisors aren’t totally on board. They fear that future costs could come back to taxpayers.

The developer of a 24-unit condominium project underway in Minocqua says he will donate all profits from it to the Howard Young Foundation.

Project owner Trygve (Trig) Solberg, well-known local businessman, declared his intentions Wednesday during a public hearing on a conditional use permit that the Oneida County Planning and Development Committee ultimately approved.

According to its website,t.he foundation promotes charitable support for Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff and Ministry Eagle River Memorial Hospital.

The Minocqua Town Board will meet in a rare joint session with its plan commission Tuesday after it told a condominium developer it wants a better looking storage building to go along with his 24-unit condominium project.

The appearance of the 80-by-100 foot metal storage building met with head shaking yesterday (Tuesday) by town supervisors. They pointed out that the 37-foot tall metal building would be the first thing northbound motorists would see of the condo site.

WXPR's Ken Krall talked with Minocqua town chair Mark Hartzheim about the budget which will remain frozen for another year. Oneida county helped November 12 by restoring funding for the Minocqua police dispatch.

The levy was set at $3.6 million dollars and the mill rate at $2.48 per thousand.